New insight on mole growth could aid development of skin cancer
treatments
A study detailing the processes that control mole size may help
scientists find new ways to prevent skin cancer from growing

Date:
October 13, 2020
Source:
eLife
Summary:
Moles stop growing when they reach a certain size due to normal
interactions between cells, despite having cancer-associated gene
mutations, says a new study.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Moles stop growing when they reach a certain size due to normal
interactions between cells, despite having cancer-associated gene
mutations, says a new study published today in eLife.


==========================================================================
The findings in mice could help scientists develop new ways to prevent
skin cancer growth that take advantage of the normal mechanisms that
control cell growth in the body.

Mutations that activate the protein made by the BRAF gene are believed
to contribute to the development of skin cancer. However, recent studies
have shown that these mutations do not often cause skin cancer, but
instead result in the formation of completely harmless pigmented moles
on the skin. In fact, 90% of moles have these cancer-linked mutations
but never go on to form tumours. "Exploring why moles stop growing might
lead us to a better understanding of what goes wrong in skin cancer,"
says lead author Roland Ruiz- Vega, a postdoctoral researcher at the
University of California, Irvine, US.

Scientists believe that stress caused by rapid cell growth may stop the
growth of moles through a process called oncogene-induced senescence
(OIS), but this has not been proven. To test the idea, Ruiz-Vega and
colleagues studied mice with BRAF mutations that develop numerous moles.

The team first focused on assessing 'senescence', a set of changes in
cells usually associated with aging. Using a technique called single-cell
RNA sequencing to compare mole cells with normal skin cells, they found
that moles are growth-arrested, but no more senescent than normal skin
cells. The cells also did not have any apparent differences in gene
expression (where a gene is activated to create a necessary protein)
that would support the idea of OIS controlling their growth.

Additionally, computer modelling of mole growth did not support the idea
of OIS. In fact, the models suggested that mole cells communicate with
each other when moles reach a certain size and stop growing. The same
kind of communication also takes place in many normal tissues to enable
them to achieve and maintain a correct size.

"Our results suggest that moles stop growing as a result of normal
cell-to-cell communication, not as a response to stress from cancer genes, potentially changing the way we think about skin cancer," explains senior author Arthur Lander, Director of the Center for Complex Biological
Systems, and Donald Bren Professor of Developmental and Cell Biology,
at the University of California, Irvine. "This work paves the way for
further research into the mechanisms that control skin cell growth, with
the aim of better understanding what goes wrong to cause skin cancer
and ultimately developing new treatments to help prevent the disease."

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by eLife. Note: Content may be edited
for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Rolando Ruiz-Vega, Chi-Fen Chen, Emaad Razzak, Priya Vasudeva,
Tatiana B
Krasieva, Jessica Shiu, Michael G Caldwell, Huaming Yan, John
Lowengrub, Anand K Ganesan, Arthur D Lander. Dynamics of nevus
development implicate cell cooperation in the growth arrest of
transformed melanocytes. eLife, 2020; 9 DOI: 10.7554/eLife.61026 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201013124200.htm

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